Southern California -- this just in

Boy, 5, in critical condition after being shot in head by suspected gang member

November 1, 2010 | 3:28
pm

A 5-year-old boy was in critical condition Monday after two suspected gang members walked through the alley behind his South Los Angeles home and shot him while he was in his backyard.

The boy, who was dressed as Spiderman and waiting to go to a Halloween party, was in the yard with his grandfather and uncle about 2 p.m. Sunday in the 1000 block of East 84th Street. One of the suspects opened fired and hit him in the back of the head, said Det. Chris Barling of the Los Angeles Police Department. The grandfather was grazed in the arm by a bullet; the uncle was shot in the leg.

The boy was taken to Harbor UCLA Medical Center where he remains in critical condition, Barling said.

The home in the Florence neighborhood lies near a border between two rival gangs. Detectives suspect that the men, believed to be in their late teens or early 20s, mistakenly thought that the family was connected to their rival gang.